Published in Veterinary Record (1) is an interventional study on the effects of vitamin D supplementation on dogs with atopic dermatitis. Conclusion: Oral vitamin D decreased both pruritus and also acute and chronic skin lesions in dogs with AD. The improvement in the dogs with pruritus was significantly correlated with an increase in serum 25-OH-D3 […] Read more »
The term vitamin D has become a catch-all for three different forms of vitamin D: D3, 25(OH)D3, and 1,25(OH)2D3 (calcitriol), as well as the 24-hydroxylated components. The routinely measured and primary store of vitamin D is 25(OH)D3. Vitamin D Metabolism In a dog or cats’ diet, the primary available format is both D3 and 25(OH)D3. While commercial food […] Read more »
Over the years, and just recently, there have been food recalls concerning excess vitamin D in pet food and reported ‘vitamin D intoxication’. Pets eating these foods and exhibiting signs of hypercalcemia are assumed to have vitamin D intoxication. Background: Vitamin D exists as three different forms: Vitamin D3 25-hydroxy-vitaminD (25(OH)D) 1,25-dihydroxy-vitaminD (calcitriol). Both D3 and 25(OH)D are […] Read more »
VDI Laboratory – Leader in Vitamin D Testing Vitamin D shouldn’t be scary. Although the internet is abound with recalls and scary articles about toxicity, the bigger issue in a majority of cats and dogs is the pandemic of Vitamin D insufficiency. Vitamin D is as important for your pet as it is for you. […] Read more »
Vitamin D insufficiency is a major problem in cats and dogs in the United States. According to a 2015 study out of Tufts University1, 75% of dogs are vitamin D insufficient. We wanted to look at what that meant for real world pets. The real problem in real world patients VDI analyzed its database of […] Read more »
Research in both human and veterinary medicine shows vitamin D to be an independent risk factor for adverse cardiac events. Two recent studies looked at the association between Vitamin D levels and Chronic Valvular Heart Disease (CVHD). Kraus, et. al., found that in dogs, low stores of 25(OH)D were associated with CVHD, as well as a 2.6 times greater hazard of having a […] Read more »
Protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), a syndrome of excessive loss of protein into the lumen of the GI tract, can be associated with a wide range of serious inflammatory diseases such as neoplasia and IBD as well as less severe disorders like food responsive diarrhea (FRD). Left untreated, PLE is often fatal. In the January issue of JAVMA, […] Read more »
VDI Laboratory provides patient specific dosing guidelines on all Vitamin D reports for cats and dogs. Now, all Vitamin D reports come with a second dosing guideline for reaching the high end of the sufficient range. High End Sufficiency Sometimes we get asked- can we target higher in the sufficient zone (100-150ng/mL)? The answer of course […] Read more »
In a major study from Tufts University , 40 different brands of dog food were evaluated for the amount of vitamin D absorbed and converted to 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25vitD), the primary store and precursor to the active hormone, calicitriol. In a group of 320 dogs, 25vitD concentrations ranged from 9.5 to 249.2 ng/mL. However, the median 25vitD concentration was […] Read more »
Immune-mediated polyarthropathy (IMPA) is a common cause of chronic relapsing fever in dogs. It is associated with significant pain, lameness, or with a stiff/stilted gait. The diagnosis and monitoring of this disease requires serial synovial fluid analyses. Recently published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine , Foster, et. al, found that CRP is useful as a […] Read more »
